Hydraulic propeller



(N0 Model.)

T..L. STURTEVANT. HYDRAULI AIRPLLER.

Patented M9422?,1885.

Wim/6536s.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS L. STURTEVANT, FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

` HYDRAULIC PROPELLER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 274,839, dated March 2 7, 1883.

` ApplcatonledDeccmber1,1882. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it knownthat I, THoMAs LEGGETT STURTVANT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Framingham, in the county ot' Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hydraulic Propellers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a tull, clear, and eX- act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part ot' this specification.

This invention consists in a mode of propelling navigable vessels by alternately admitting water to and expelling it from a receiver attached to such vessel, either above or below the waterline, the recoil due to overcoming the inertia of the column of waterin such receiver as the steam or other vapor or gas effort imparts its momentum to such water being exerted uponA the vessel to propel the latter, the expulsion of the water from said receiver being effected by the pressure ot1 steam, air, or gases admitted to said receiver in the form of intermittent jets or explosions or a continuous iow.

The drawings accompanying this specifica tion represent, in Figure l, a vertical central section of an injector embodying my invention, whileFig. 2 represents the device'as applied to a vessel.

In said drawings, A represents a portion of the hull of a navigable vessel, and B a steampipe leading from aboiler contained in such vessel, with branch pipes b b extending to the outside of the latter'. t

C represents a hollow cylinder or conduit, which, as shown in the accompanying drawings, is placed horizontally in the exterior stern run of the vessel, upon one or both sides of the latter, or it may be located upon the keel or other part of said vessel, the front end of said cylinder being closed, while its rear end is open. Said cylinder C is formed with a vertical branch, D, extending downward from it, and open at bottom to permit of entrance of water tosupply the cylinder by pressure of uid in which the vessel oats.

The steam branch supply-pipe b (see Fig. 1) enters the front end of the cylinder (l, and terminates ina contracted nozzle, a, which is located above the opening of the supply-pipe D.

pelled through pipe C. Each expulsion will.,

be followed by a corresponding rush .of water or air, as the case may he, to till the vacuum thus formed, the result being to drive the vessel along, the operation thus analogous to that of a rapidlydischarged cannon traveling backward by its own recoil.

As bet'ore premised, the steam or other gas may be admitted to the cylinder C in an uninterrupted supply; but I prefer that it be introduced at intermediate periods of time in powerfuLor violentjets or explosions to allow the column 4of water admitted to the cylinder to come to rest after each expulsion, that its resistance to the thrust ot'` the iiuid effort may be greater.

two or more upon each side the keel of the ves,

sel and operate them alternately in quick repetitions, by which means a steady motionwould be imparted to such vessel, and the steering of the latter be effected by them in lieu of a rudder.

. I claimi t In an apparatus for propelling a vessel, the steam-supply pipe b, terminating in a nozzle, a, in combination with cylinder C, into which it discharges, and the water-supply pipe D, provided with valve c, the upper end of said pipe D receiving the contiguous ends. ot' the pipes b c, and the latter being arranged to receive both the water and the steam and dischargeA them into the air. l

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence ot' two witnesses.

THOMAS LEGGE-TT STURTEVANT.

IOO 

